Safe sleep habits reduce infant mortality

Every grandmother knows babies sleep best on their stomach. However, truly loving “nanas” and the infants’ mothers need to know the reality – this comfortable newborn slumber posture carries a deadly risk.

In Delaware, 8.8 percent of accidental infant deaths for whites and 12.5 percent of black accidental infant deaths are linked to poor sleep practices. Those figures are indicative of an uncomfortable rise in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome since 2005 when the state’s infant mortality rate was nearly 14 percent. By 2010 it declined from 9.3 to 8.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, closing in on the national average of 6.5 deaths per 1,000.

Delaware has worked hard to reduce its infant mortality rate, once among the highest in the country. What made the difference? A thorough review of public policy with credible medical and behavioral research by the Division of Public Health in the Department of Health and Social Services. Delaware’s strategy includes prenatal care and education for a healthy pregnancy, as well as mental health services, nutrition counseling and home visiting to help and guide first-time mothers.

The messaging is suitably tough: Up until 1 year of age, babies should always sleep on their backs, even at naptime, to assure infants of getting the oxygen they need. Sleeping alone with nothing but a firm mattress is just as vital. Their fragile developing bodies have difficulty maneuvering around excess covers, wedges and stuffed animals. And if your baby falls asleep in a car safety seat, stroller, swing, infant carrier, or infant sling, he should be moved to a firm sleep surface as soon as possible.

Data shows infants sleeping side-by-side or between parents to detect heavy congestion or developing illness is behavior ripe for creating SIDS. So, too, is smoking in the home, considering the lethal effects of second-hand smoke on their developing lungs and central nervous systems. Babies so exposed are three times more likely to die from SIDS.

In the coming months, expect to see and hear more of the “Long Live Dreams” media campaign to create a safe sleep environment on local television, radio and brochure handouts to pediatricians, health care providers, and DPH clients. But don’t forget – the current success in reducing Delaware’s infant mortality rate was the result of years of focus on investing in outreach with state and local resources. Urge your elected officials to remember this critical funding priority and its value to them when it comes to your vote.